HRK Senate on the future funding of university teaching: Clear, long-term, adequate, needs-based!

13. March 2019

The call for stable funding of academic studies in Germany was reiterated by the Senate of the German Rectors’ Conference (HRK) in Berlin yesterday. Crucial talks are currently under way on the replacements for the Higher Education Pact 2020 and the Quality of Teaching Pact, both of which end in the coming year.

The HRK Senate has once again called on the Federal and State Governments to increase funds for the universities by three per cent annually. The states together with the Federal Government should finally grant the universities the same planning opportunities that extra-university research organisations receive, the Senate says – including a straightforward, demand-based allocation formula for funds. The representatives of the universities believe that the planned criterion of “Students in the standard course duration plus two semesters”, must not be allowed to place pressure on periods abroad or innovative concepts for the initial study phase. Another potential problem identified was the bureaucratic effort required to calculate cash flows, due to a diverse range of criteria in addition to interim and special arrangements.

An independent external funding organisation is also under discussion for the further development of the Quality of Teaching Pact (QPL). Such an organisation was expressly rejected by the Senate, noting the position taken by the HRK General Assembly of May 2017. The Senate stated that the crucial factor for safeguarding the quality of teaching and its ongoing innovative development is strong basic funding.

HRK President Prof Dr Peter-André Alt told the press today in Berlin, “These are permanent processes, for which permanent funding must be provided accordingly. Competition for additional funding for teaching may provide supplementary incentives. But it must not result in responsibility for quality assurance and quality development being removed from the universities. The universities themselves must assume this task under their own responsibility, they are willing and able to do so. For this reason, we do not view a separate new external funding organisation as useful. A platform organised by the HRK for mutual exchange about good teaching and the concomitant research might be conceivable, however.”
 

View text of the resolution